NC-4 Harbinger Gundam
History After five years of relative peace, a terrorist group called Bane declared Unity hypocrites for suppressing war through armed force and keeping the majority of their actions hidden from public eyes. They demanded the taskforce disband immediately or the galaxy would suffer their wrath. When Unity refused to accept their demands, the group leveled an entire city using an experimental seismic weapon, killing thousands and causing massive damage on a global scale. In response, Unity began preparing itself for war. Design The NC-4 was a massive step forward from the NC-3 United Gundam in terms of armament and performance. Featuring an improved version of the Minovsky Hyper Propulsion System the mobile suit boasted immensely improved speed and agility compared to previous mobile suits. Like the NC-2 Transcendor Gundam and the NC-3 United Gundam, the Harbinger Gundam focused mostly on mounted weaponry. However the Harbinger Gundam boasted a much larger and more powerful set of armaments ranging from powerful beam weapons to psychically guided missiles. What truly made the mobile suit so powerful was the combination of technological advancements and ingenuity behind the designs. Evolve Control System As Ace didn't design the NC-4 with heavy usage of remote weaponry in mind, the Evolve Control System was upgraded to improve control over the mobile suit itself. The system now allowed him to control the Harbinger Gundam entirely through thought alone even at a distance, though for weapons he favored the standard means of control out of fear of accidentally firing from reflex. A new program in the Evolve Control System was created for the purpose of suppressing an Evolvers ability to control remote weaponry by broadcasting synthetic Psyco-waves over a large range. While powerful Evolvers were able to overcome this, lesser ones were considerably weakened or unable to use it at all. Core Armor In order to accommodate all the weaponry intended for the Harbinger while maintaining atmospheric functionality, Ace developed a separate fighter designed to combine with the mobile suit in and outside of combat. The core armor was a modified core fighter that also doubled as an emergency escape pod should the mobile suit suffer significant damage in battle. When docked the core armor attaches to the chest and arms, becoming additional armor. For power the core armor used a Minovsky Drive. When docked the drive powered the Minovsky Hyper Propulsion System while the THD took over the weaponry. On its own the core armor carried much of the weaponry of the Harbinger Gundam. The beam mega launcher, concussion missiles, burst cannons and the beam lance were all attached to the fighter. Ace could remotely control the core armor through the Evolve Control System and used it to act as a high speed support fighter and when necessary, as a transport to bring new equipment to the mobile suit. To conserve energy the core armor was given beam reflective coating to disperse or deflect beams. Weaponry *'Beam Sabers:' The Harbinger Gundam was equipped with four beam sabers for use in combat. Like the previous NC Series mobile suits two of the sabers were stored in the forearms and could slide into the hands on a moments notice. Unique to the Gundam was the inclusion of two additional beam sabers concealed within the bulky armor located on the arms. When needed the sabers could snap out over the wrists. *'Collapsing Beam Lance: '''An upgraded version of the beam lance seen on the NC-1.5 Gundam. The lance could collapse into the size of a beam saber and was stored within the Core Armor. Like before, the weapon generated a pointed beam blade from the tip and the staff was anti-beam coated, however the mobile suit couldn't attach it to the arms due to the Core Armor and lack of a rotor drive. *'Beam Mega Launcher:' A large double barreled beam weapon mounted onto the Core Armor designed to fire high intensity beams. The strength of these beams was comparable to those of the Railgun Mode of the Variable Beam Rifle. The cannon could fire single or double shots as needed and for use in close combat could double as a twin beam saber. *'Burst Cannons: T'wo shoulder mounted cannons designed to act like high output turrets. The burst cannons of the Harbinger Gundam had considerably increased range of movement. Like the NC-3, the burst cannons doubled as forward guns for the Core Armor. *'Guided Concussion Missiles:' Stored in both the chest and the back were 180 missiles designed for maximum destructive power. These missiles were specially designed to be either fired regularly, or be remotely controlled and directed by the Evolver pilot through the Evolve Control System, making the missiles the sole Evolver-type weapon to be used by the Harbinger. *'Beam Diffusor Cannon:' Located on the crotch was a powerful beam cannon designed to fire a barrage of high intensity beams in several directions. The cannon was disguised as a thruster, giving Ace a surprise attack in close combat. *'Variable Beam Rifle:' An updated version of the Variable Beam Rifle intended for the VX-01. The weapon saw several upgrades in cooling and energy technologies. The weapon could be swapped between the Core Armor and the mobile suit itself. **Rifle Mode: The weapon's standard function. The weapon can fire medium intensity beams at a steady rate. **Railgun Mode: The rifle activates internal accelerators and fires high intensity beams at increased velocity. While this beam can destroy mobile suits in a single hit and even damage larger warships. Due to improved cooling technology the railgun mode only required a two second cooldown. **Repeater Mode: A new feature inspired by the Vulcan Cannons. The rifle rapid fires medium intensity beams in a constant stream. This was effective for shooting down missiles and bombarding enemies until they collapsed from the assault. **Blast Mode: A new function that allowed the rifles to fire a continuous high intensity beam. Like the Railgun Mode, the Blast Mode produced a large amount of heat and required a three second cooling period after the weapon finished firing. **Bayonet Mode: A melee function in which the barrel of the rifle functions similar to a beam saber. Like standard beam sabers, the length and intensity of the blade can be altered. **Snipe Mode: The rifle employs it's improved internal accelerators to grant greatly increased range and precision. To accommodate this mode the mobile suit utilized a holographic targeting system to create a high resolution image for the pilot to aim and compensate for enemy movement. *'Mega Beam Cannon:' Mounted on the forehead was a powerful beam cannon designed to fire high intensity beams over a long range. While largely similar to the Beam Diffusor Cannon, the mega beam cannon could only fire a single burst rather than a barrage. The cannon was designed to take out enemy warships and bases as well as most mobile suit mounted I-Fields through sheer firepower. To avoid overdrawing from the THD, the weapon required a core armor to function at full power. When a core armor wasn't present, the firepower of the cannon was limited to 50%. *'Beam Vulcan Cannons:' Four beam vulcan cannons were installed into the head for missile interception. Improvements in the vulcans allowed them to cause minor damage to armor. *'Beam Machineguns:''' Improved versions of the Vulcan Cannons. The mobile suit was equipped with two beam machineguns concealed in each hand. The Beam Machineguns were somewhat stronger than the vulcan cannons and could do minor to moderate damage to most armors. Category:Future Era Category:Gundam